Pursuing Vengeance
by Ejji
Summary: It was a normal day for Ko until they attacked. The Band of Seven ripped apart her village, tearing it down and destroying all that Ko held dear. Ko barely escaped with her life. Enraged and broken, Ko prays for vengeance when Sesshomaru happens upon her. Unfortunately for the demon, Ko is convinced that he is a god and vows her loyalty to him in exchange for the Band's deaths.
1. Chapter 1: Inferno

_Yukata _– A casual summer kimono that is unlined

_Kago – _a type of "litter" – wheel-less vehicle usually powered somehow by humans – that non-samurai people used in feudal Japan, merchants especially

_Juban – _plain kimono underwear that is worn underneath a kimono

_Seiza – _a formal, traditional way of sitting in Japan; the form is of kneeling on the floor with legs folded underneath thighs with backside weighing and resting on the heels

_Nihon – _Japanese word for Japan

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><p>The cool water poured down her body, droplets coating her thick mane with water. The area was still, most villagers were slaving in the fields and left the small body of water otherwise unoccupied to her relief. The tall woman massaged her scalp, gossamer strings of black wrapping around her fingers like thin spider webs. The darkness of her hair washed out her complexion, giving it a sickly pale sheen and the laugh lines by her eyes were emphasized. She was no beauty, but common with murky elongated tresses that oiled rapidly and smoldering brown eyes that only danced in fire and mostly appeared dull.<p>

Grime and oil spilled from the locks smoothly, like sake tumbling out of a cup, and she shortly felt rejuvenated. A smile graced her thick lips as she relaxed unto her back, floating peacefully in the water. Her black hair fanned out and her eyes slipped closed. Nothing could touch her at that moment; nothing could disturb the serenity she had discovered. It was only when the pads of her fingers began to shrivel that she departed from the small spring, using the tree branches that bent to touch the water to pull her to shore. Her legs had fallen asleep and pinpricks danced across her knees like traipsing horses in a pasture.

The simple blue _yukata_ was made of an expensive silk, given to her by her merchant father after his many rendezvous in Kyoto, one of the large trading centers. She slipped into it, securing the navy _obi_ around her waist and travelling barefoot to the village. Merchants were never liked, they were parasites that didn't contribute to the economy but gained money by buying from others, and so the woman's life was not easy. She was, after all, the daughter of one such merchant. Many people scowled at them in villages as they were passing through in their _kago_. However, she had been lucky. It was not too long ago that they found the little gem that was this village nestled by the woods. They were simple folk who worked hard in the fields and couldn't care much to hate the merchant father and daughter.

The brunette woman walked unhurried through the rice paddies and offered to help her fellow civilians, but with genial grins they waved her away. The high sun dried the dampness from her skin and swallowed her in a golden glow that she didn't experience often. Her feet had become covered in slick mud as well as the hem of her luxurious _yukata,_ but she couldn't find it in herself to care.

"Hello, Ko." A villager said.

"Hello, do you need help, Jiro?" She replied.

"No thank you – your father is looking for you, you should hurry home." The old man chuckled, wiping the sweat from his brow and she thanked him with a bow before racing from the rice paddies.

Her feet thumped on the hard ground and the dirt that didn't become plastered to her feet flew behind her in clumps. Her wet tresses were folded and bundled into a sloppy bun, if only to keep it from her face and it slumped on her shoulders, wetting the nape of her neck. The rushing air cooled her in the simmering heat until she arrived at the small cabin, though larger than most of the homes in the little village, that was tucked slightly away from all the other cabins. It was typical for merchant houses to be assigned a certain section – they were the lowest of the tier, after all – but the town was so little that the cabin was just built at a slight distance.

Ko moved into her home of the last two full moons and witnessed her father drinking at the table in an ornate red _haori_. Ko always preferred the soft, subtler color of blue, but red had always managed to bring out the best features in her family. Her father didn't look up when she entered and she approached the table, falling to her knees and bowing.

The silence was thick and she bit her lip, studying her solemn progenitor. Bags were under his eyes and chunks of his black hair were missing from where he tugged in stress. His skin was slick with grease produced from his hair and pallid in color. Ko's lips twitched in a small smile when her father finally looked up from where he was studying the elaborate green china cup that he favored for years.

"You were looking for me?" Ko asked gently, her hands twitching in her folded lap. If her father was drinking tea to calm himself or sake to inebriate himself, she didn't know, but asking would only provoke his ire.

"Yes." He said finally, his voice grave and raspy. "I didn't want to be alone."

Ko deflated, her eyes turning weary and her lips pressed together. It wasn't unusual for her father to get into such deprived moods, but it usually ended with her cradling him in her arms in the middle of the night as he sobbed dismally. His daughter didn't necessarily mind it, not at all, but she needed him to move on – for both their sakes.

His hand quivered as he lifted the cup to his mouth and Ko reached forward, removing it from his grasp with tenderness. The shattering of his precious china cup would only lead to an abysmal hole he would not be able to climb out of. She set the cup lightly on the wooden table and pried her fingers from the china. Arms stretched outwards towards her father's face, like she was a toddler grasping for her mother, and her soft fingers made contact with his thin jaw. Ko smoothed his wrinkles, her thumbs massaged his cheek bones. Her father stared at the cup as his body trembled with unreleased tears.

"It's okay." Ko finally muttered, her voice a wispy rasp that quaked in the air. "You will _never _be alone, otosan. I will always be here, I promise you."

A grateful smile broke his face as tears fell down his countenance. His weathered hands grasped hers and splashes of salt water landed on the table. "_Ko, _my beautiful Ko!"

He made to say more but a bloodcurdling scream broke the stillness of the village. It reverberated through the air, a sharp painful sound that left Ko clutching her heart in fear. A choir of screams followed, it was a haunting song that thrummed with death and dread. Ko's father clutched at his hair and scrambled from the table, flipping it over in the process as he crawled on hands and knees to peer out the door. She could faintly smell a pungent odor of burning wood and scorched flesh. It was bitter in her nose and as the aroma grew stronger, she began to taste it. It tasted like death. Ko swallowed thickly, covering her ears and her father turned towards her slowly. Tears leaked from her eyes; his own black orbs were stretched open until his pupils were nothing but a miniscule dot and his jaw was slack with a squirming, pulsing tongue that quivered in horror. His face paled till he resembled snow and thick grey smoke slithered into the room in plumes behind him.

"It's them." He whispered, his eyes staring into her yet not seeing.

She wanted to ask, her mind needed to know – she didn't. Ko didn't ask who "them" was. Ko didn't beg her father to remove himself from the door. Ko didn't hide. Ko stared. She stared as a tanned hand clutched the door frame, as nails chipped at the wood. Terror gripped her bones and her joints clacked together as her body shuddered unceasingly. An evil white smile danced in the grey mist, lips cruelly curling and blue eyes were scrunched with laughter. At once the noise stopped – it was silent. It was _so _silent as shining metal swooped in the room. Quiet as blood splashed onto the floor like a rushing river and her father's wide eyes gazed into her soul, spinning and spinning and spinning until his decapitated head bumped into her knees. His eyes nearly rolled into his head, gawking up at her as they were.

The devil strode out of the blazing fire as he patted the untouched walls with a large stained hand. The halberd on his shoulder raked against the ceiling and a horrible, screeching sound rang in her ears. Ko's eyes were trained on his wiggling beige toes before raking up his white _hakama_ pants to his red sash, over his guarded chest and finally the narrow sapphires. They were twinkling, they were amused. Ko couldn't understand – why were the sapphires amused? And then it swung.

Ko threw herself backwards, the point of the halberd slashing through muscle and tissue. She landed with a painful thud, grasping her stomach to keep her essence from parting. He laughed, mirthless and cruel; he did, after all, enjoy a good chase. Her nails scratched and nipped at the flooring, scuttling backwards and ignoring the bending and twisting of her human claws.

"Now, now," He smirked, a hand twining in his black braid, "don't you want this to be painless?"

Ko's mind shrieked, begging and pleading with her. Ask it! Ask it! "Who are you?"

She had moved the furthest she could from him, her back pressing to the wall as he loomed in front of her. He crouched in front of her, his hand wrapping around her delicate throat.

"Bankotsu, of the Band of Seven."

Even his name sent horrifying shivers down her spine. Bankotsu grinned evilly as her body wracked with convulsions. Her fear was palpable and delicious in the singed air. His hand tightened around her throat, constricting her airways like a snake. Ko clawed at his arm, her breath was now coming in short rasps and she felt life draining from her very body. She was cold, so cold, and in that moment, livid. Rage boiled in her blood and it spread throughout her body like a deadly poison. Her father was dead. The village was dead. Everyone was dead.

She was dead.

This was an undeniable fact – she was dying and she was powerless. Pathetic sobs choked in her breast, using up the precious atmosphere she had left. Darkness edged her vision, her hand fell limp beside her and then she touched it, ceramic shards of her father's favorite emerald teacup which shattered when the table flipped. Her hand grasped the largest piece and she wondered if she could do it. Could she harm another human being? Bankotsu, flecked with her father's blood, closed his eyes to revel in the essence that was flooding from her body. Ko knew that if she didn't act now, her window of opportunity would shut.

She could, she decided.

Her hand was a bird, it was the only logical reason for the speed and elegance that her appendage was graced with as it soared in the air. She could. The china cup pricked her hand and her own blood spilled to the floor. She could. Ko was determined to live, she had to lest the anger bubbling beneath her flesh went to waste. She could. The shard skimmed across his cheek, leaving a red gash in its wake. She would!

Bankotsu dropped her out of surprise, his eyes snapping open. That was not expected. Ko used this to her advantage and wedged her foot under his ribs, kicking him away though not very far. Before he could react she sprinted from the floor, stumbling and falling in the small cabin's diminutive corridor, leaving a trail of blood. Bankotsu tore after her, cachinnating with pleasure. Though Ko was no challenge, she was amusing and it left gleeful sniggers in his throat. At this rate, she would never make it, but she had to try. Every muscle in her body was crying, her stomach wound pulsed like a living entity, and the only thought on her mind was survival. She needed to survive.

Her shoulder knocked down portraits and meaningless decorations. Her _yukata_ caught on empty nails where paintings once were until her father tore them down in a tantrum. Ko's _obi_ was almost falling from her frame, ripped from the deadly sword that had wished to cleave her in two. She could hear the thumping of Bankotsu's feet behind her as he walked at a leisurely pace, teasing and taunting her, knowing she would never escape. However, she knew something he didn't.

Ko entered her room, shoving the _shoji_ partition open and pressing it closed behind her. He would be there any moment. Thinking quickly to rid herself of the trailing of blood, she tugged off her _yukata_, leaving her bare to the sweltering heat of burning houses, and pressing it to her wound. Blood dripped down her legs and she hastily wiped it off on her futon before dashing to the large ornate dresser at the back wall. Flinging it open, she stepped in and closed the closet doors behind her as quietly as she could. Ko fell to her knees and began to search in the darkness, anxious and fearful – she could smell the nervous sweat that dripped down her face and rolled onto the floor, only to be sucked up into the wood. Finally, she found it, a slight edging that was almost imperceptible if you looked with eyes alone. Digging her nails under it, until they cracked and ached, she hefted up a small, cut out piece of the dresser flooring. It was very small, but enough for her to fit her body into. She pressed herself into the hole, and it was only deep enough as to where she could sit in it and her torso still be in the closet, and shoved her body harshly into it, curling into a tight ball and replacing the cutout piece. The reason for the small alcove was not for her to hide in it, no, but to hide expensive jewelry so the house could not be ransacked by bandits. Ko's father was a cautious man, after all.

In just that moment, she heard the ripping of the rice-paper screen being torn by the large sword Bankotsu held with him. Ko's eyes darted around in the darkness and she wished desperately that she could see what he was doing, but all she could hear was the delicate steps of him circling the room. Stuffing a fist into her mouth, Ko attempted to quiet her breathing.

"Come out, come out wherever you are." Bankotsu sang, chuckling loud enough for her to hear. When she didn't answer, he chuckled once more. "I guess I'll just have to look for you then, wench."

The dresser doors were opened and small sprinkles of light filtered into her hiding spot. Ko felt like crying, her lungs shrinking with the effort of keeping them at bay and her eyes stinging. She was going to die; he was undoubtedly going to find her.

"Bankotsu!" A feminine drawl echoed in her room and she shoved her fist further into her mouth to stifle the shocked gasp. The closet doors closed and she was left alone.

"Ah, Jakotsu, I was just looking for a little vixen, maybe you've seen her?" Bankotsu inquired, leaning against the dresser and jostling it. Ko hoped he didn't notice the unnatural heaviness of the object.

"No, big brother, maybe she ran off?" Jakotsu suggested.

"Maybe." Bankotsu sounded disappointed and the girl gagged in revulsion. "Oh well, I'll just burn the place down with her inside."

The hidden brunette pressed her ruined yukata to her eyes, stifling the tears that were rushing down her cheeks. Sobs were muted by the fist in her mouth; her teeth pressed down on the ivory skin and drew blood, the metallic taste consuming her senses. The soft whacks of Bankotsu's and Jakotsu's retreating footsteps echoed in her ears and she could already feel the inferno blazing across her skin. Thoughts of her impending doom rained inside her mind. How could she escape the eating flames? If she left the house, Bankotsu would be waiting for her; if she stayed, she would burn slowly. When she thought her killers were far enough away, she allowed the harsh sounds of her weeping fill the room.

After her throat ached and smoke began wafting into the dresser, Ko halted her tears and gathered the last threads of her dignity. Weaving her dignity together into an impenetrable shield, Ko was able to hold back her pathetic cries. Rage and anger swirled in her stomach, staining her eyesight red as she imagined the Band of Seven's demise – one by one. She wouldn't give Bankotsu the satisfaction of seeing her die; she would die here, embracing the falling remnants of her home. But she wouldn't die in this hidden drawer, she refused to.

The cutout flooring of the dresser collided into the backing of the dresser, swishing around the clothes that hung in it. She climbed out on weak arms, blood pooling at her feet. Death from injuries or death from fire was the question that danced behind her shimmering eyes. Ko hoped it would be by fire, being near fire was the only time her eyes appeared alive. Picking out a blue _kimono_ carefully, Ko slipped into the _juban_ and smoothed it with her fingers carefully. Then was the navy silk kimono, the best kimono she owned, with white flowers decorating it. Ko sat down in the middle of her room, sitting in _seiza _with her hands resting in her lap.

She breathed in deeply, closing her eyes, as she felt the heat scorching the skin on her face. The house was falling apart, bit by bit, with everything falling and crumbling to dust around Ko. Death's breath ruffled the hair on her neck and she wished she had had time to pull it up one last time. The dresser next to her crumbled as flames licked at the wood, caressing the linen found in it.

"They will pay." She told herself quietly, comforted by the simple fact. She might not be the one to execute it, but they will pay – they have to. Such evil should never be able to wonder the earth, should never be able to wreak havoc on the citizens of _Nihon._

A rafter fell and a rush of wind caressed her face, beckoning her to open her eyes. The rafter had landed in such a way that Ko was presented with a bridge to the roof of her cabin. She was presented with an escape route.

"They _will _pay."


	2. Chapter 2: Hachiman

**Author's Note: I want to thank everyone that followed, favorite, etc. etc. It really means a lot. I should warn you, though, that I might be slow at updating because I am writing this as I go. Now, this chapter didn't turn out how I wanted it to, and I tried writing it in different ways, but it's not coming out how I want it to. So, please bear with me (or is it bare?). It might be a little confusing with addressing Sesshoumaru - Ko mainly calls him Hachiman, but when Rin addresses him as Sesshoumaru, she begins to call him that (this is limited third person and so it revolves mainly around Ko's perspective and what she knows of people)Review and I'll answer! **

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><p>Her feet slapped against the foliage of the ground; thorns, splinters, and sticks all jabbed into her feet and every step pushed the objects further in. Her ankle throbbed from landing on it wrong when she had leapt from the half-caved in roof of her home. The only thing keeping her going was the adrenaline pumping through her veins and the anger swirling in her gut. Unbalanced, Ko repeatedly rammed into various tall trees, jostling her shoulder and wound. It was only when her legs burned, her stomach convulsed, and her lungs coughed that she stopped.<p>

Ko hurled herself onto the ground, her _kimono_ falling slightly open and her slovenly mop flung over her shoulder into her face. Globules descended from her dark eyes and onto her hands which were clasped tautly. Virulence swelled in her chest and festered like an injury upon her heart. It scorched and burned excruciatingly in her, causing more tears to travel down her cheeks. Her father was dead. Ko would never see him ever again, would never hold him close to her breast, would never talk to him ever again. Ko would never go home after a nice, hot bath and sip tasteful tea ever again.

"Please," she sobbed into her clenched hands, "anyone who is listening, I beg of you to give me strength."

The rage was pulling and tugging at her heart, crawling up her throat and scratching at her lips.

"I'll give you the flesh from my bones, the soul from my body, the teeth from my mouth! I'll give you _anything!_ Just give me strength to _slaughter_ those who took my otosan, my home, my friends! Give me the strength to slash their flesh and erase them from this place forever! Then you can take me to the depths of Hell and torment my soul for all eternity."

Nothing happened at first, but then _he _appeared.

He was tall with silver tresses billowing around him, his formidable emanation crackling in the looming night. He was swathed in white, the color of death, from his ankles to the pelt that rested on his shoulder. Byzantium stripes were stained onto his cheeks, smooth strokes contrasting against his high pale cheekbones. The planes of his jowl were sharp and feminine with straight perfect bones covered by silky skin. A crescent indigo moon dangled on his forehead like the very moon in the star-dotted sky. The clothes titivating his body hung too loose to see the strength in his muscles, but his strong grip on his sword exposed the tenacity in his body. He was Death.

It became clear to Ko to exactly who, or what, he was. He was Hachiman, the God of War and the protector of _Nihon_. He had heard her plea! This divine _kami_ had come to save her and demolish the Band of Seven, for the sake of the land. Oh, he had heard her, he had heard her, he had heard her. His divinity, his gracious, this beautiful being!

Ko threw herself to his feet and latched onto his boots, bending to kiss them sloppily even as she was dying. He had heard her! "O, Hachiman no Kimi, O master! You have come to save us. Please, cut the stomachs of the Band of Seven as they have so cut me; slice their heads off their shoulders as they so slice the head of my father; avenge my village, my lord, my savior, my gracious – O, Hachiman no Kimi, take my soul when I depart and use it to empower your sword; O, Hachiman no Kimi, use the blood pouring from me to feed your revenge! O, Great Protector!"

The deity stared down at Ko, his face passive though his eyes shone with repulsion. Before the merchant's daughter, or ex-merchant's daughter as it was, knew it, his foot connected with her throat. The black boot toes dug into her skin, pressed on her windpipe, suffocating her, as she soared through the air and landed harshly onto her back. Ko coughed and her eyes fought to slip closed, after seconds of a heated battle, Ko relented. Ko relented to her End, to her Death. It was inevitable and she had accepted it.

Ko expected something grand, such as a bright light or swirling fire as the oni dragged her to Yomi. All there was blackness. Floating in the abyss, Ko felt nothing but serenity. The same serenity she had experienced one day in the springs; how long ago was that? It could have been just earlier that day or a century ago. In this void, there was no time. There was just her being, her peace. There was no longer an eddy of anger in her gut, there was no longer sadness in her breast, there was no weariness on her eyelids; Ko smiled blissfully.

"My sweet, sweet Ko." A grave voice croaked and Ko was suddenly back in her village, back in her house, holding her father.

Confusion addled her brain as she pressed her father's head to her bosom, her hand rubbing his back. "You are dead."

"No," Her precious father lifted his head and cupped Ko's face, smiling a smile he has not smiled in a long time. "we are dead."

Images of Hachiman and her dying filled her head, blinking and racing across her brain. "Yes, we are. The Great Protector had taken pity on me; He ended my suffering."

"Of course, of course." Ko's father patted her cheeks and withdrew. "Let us drink tea, one more time, my daughter."

"We…are not in Yomi."

"Not yet, my dear." His small smile added to the wrinkles on his face and made his skin glow like it never had before. "The Kami are deciding if we are to be resurrected or dragged to the depths of Izanami's realm."

He poured the tea into his favorite china cup and then into another, his hand was perfectly steady and did not quiver as it once did when they were alive. Though Ko should have been terrified of her fate, harmony pervaded her soul. Ko accepted her tea graciously; they did not have the typical tea ceremony and did not sit in _seiza_, but her father sat cross-legged while Ko's knees were bent and her legs curled around her to the side.

Ko cocked her head and asked her father, "If we are to be resurrected, who do you wish to be?"

He sipped at his tea for a moment then answered, "I would like to be your father again, darling Ko."

"That is not possible; we died at the same time." Ko protested.

"Yet still. That is my deepest wish: to raise you once more, this time with more love as the last. I am forever to be your father, always. As you are my daughter, in life, in death, in life again."

Ko was about to reply when their house shuddered, the table tilting though nothing fell and the tea did not slosh. It rumbled through the ground and pounded against the walls; the family continued to sip at their tea as if nothing was happening. The earthquake subsided.

"They are calling us." Ko noted, setting her tea down and glancing around the home.

"Yes, we will be going soon."

"Indeed." Ko sighed through her nose, closure filling her heart. "If I were to be resurrected, I would like to be your daughter, forever and always."

Her father grinned and held her hands over the table. "Forever and always."

The house trembled again, but this time it was violent and jarring. Painting fell from the walls, the table slid and screeched across the floor, china cups splintered. The peace was shattered and fear gripped Ko's heart with an iron grip, squeezing it with no remorse.

"Father, what is happening?" Ko inquired, her voice panicked.

Her father faced her, his black orbs stretched open until his pupils were nothing but a miniscule dot and his jaw slack with a squirming, pulsing tongue that quivered in horror. His face paled till he resembled snow and thick grey smoke slithered into the room from the doorway. Ko watched with horror as a green, clawed hand curled around the frame, claws scratching at wood. Metal chains shot from the plume of smoke and slithered around her arms, legs, and stomach. Ko screamed and screamed and screamed, the chains pulling her forcefully through the door.

"Father!" Ko just managed to yell until she was back in that abyss, suspended in nothingness.

Ko tossed her head about, searching for the green hand that had condemned her to this place. Was she to go to Yomi, perhaps…somewhere worse?

"Someone, help me!" She shrieked into the void. "I don't want to be alone!"

"Sesshoumaru-sama, she is waking up." A disembodied voice echoed, innocent and sweet like the tinkling sound of a child.

Suddenly, something began to suck the darkness away and everything was being dragged into a whirlpool. Ko stared at her skin as it stretched to impossible lengths, twisting into the vortex and dragging her with it. The last thing that Ko could do was scream. It was a scream that ripped from her lungs and seared her throat; it was a scream that rang in her ears and numbed her mind; it was a scream of desperation and fear.

Ko's eyes blinked open as the life flowed back into her body and she hurriedly sat up, bumping heads with the black-haired little girl who perched in front of her. Hachiman sheathed his sword, displeasure bending his face and he twirled on his foot elegantly, walking away.

"Rin, Jaken." He uttered though it was a command.

"Wait, Hachiman-sama," Ko called wildly, struggling to her feet and tripping over herself to catch up with the striding god. "Please, you must hear me!"

A green creature, one that Ko recognized as a kappa from her father's tales, positioned his two-faced staff to stare at her. "Don't worry, Sesshoumaru-sama, I will take care of this wench!" he declared proudly.

"Stop, Jaken." Hachiman ordered and Ko's knees grew weak at the sound of his commanding voice. His mere presence caused her heart to speed up; he was so strong, the Band of Seven had no chance against her. "Or Tensaiga's power will be wasted."

"Hachiman-sama!" Ko called once more when Hachiman continued to walk away. Ko hurried after him, her kimono dragged behind her and she hitched it up with her hands as she trailed them.

Hachiman noticed her following him, but didn't say anything as he continued to walk. The imp, Jaken, stuck his beak-like mouth in the air and harrumphed, obviously displeased by her presence. The little girl, Rin as Ko recalled, approached the young woman and beamed up at her. Ko startled, staring down at her – what was a god doing with a little girl? – and hesitantly smiled back. It was only then that she noticed the soreness of her eyes that always followed crying was no longer present and the ach in her abdomen was gone. She pressed a pale hand to her blue kimono and felt nothing but the pressure and the expensive fabric. Ko stared at Hachiman's back in wonder.

"What is your name?" The little girl asked, drawing Ko from her reverie.

"Oh, Ko. You are Rin, right?" The girl hummed in reply and so Ko assumed she was correct. Leaning down, Ko whispered so Hachiman would not hear, "Does Hachiman-sama possess the ability to heal, young Rin? Did he bring me back to life?"

Rin's eyebrows scrunched in confusion before following Ko's gaze to the white-swathed being. "Oh, that's Sesshomaru-sama! He brought Rin back to life too!"

"Sesshoumaru…sama?" Ko muttered under her breath; he was Hachiman, she was sure of it. But why did he go by this name Sesshoumaru? Maybe he wished to keep his identity hidden so it would be easier for him to travel? Yes, that must be it! _I, too, will call him Sesshoumaru, _Ko decided.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, the Band of Seven must be back in the town." She meant to help, but at the glare Sesshoumaru gives over his shoulder, she realized that he must not like help. The gods, please forgive her for thinking this, could be proud, after all. "I mean, of course, if you wish to go after them now."

"This Sesshoumaru will do nothing." He growls and a bolt of something hit her hard in the heart.

Ko stopped walking and, out of curiosity, Rin stopped walking too. Jaken and Sesshoumaru continued on, not wishing to delay. Tears threatened to leak from her eyes and a dull thud, thud, thud echoed in her ears – if it was the steps of her savior walking away or her heart breaking, she didn't know. How could he do this? How could he ignore this looming threat? Many would die if he didn't do something. He must, he must, he must.

"Hachiman-sama!" Ko cries loudly, but he ignores her. "People are dying and you…you are their protector. Will you let them die? Die while crying, begging for you to save them from this wretched _evil?_ You are no _god _of mine!"

Sesshoumaru finally halts and glances over his shoulder, his eyes narrowing at her. Her previous boldness shrivels in her chest as fear overcomes her mind – he will surely strike her down now! Instead, he sniffs the air and turns around, walking in the direction of the town. Had Ko gotten through to him? He passes her, his white fur brushing her cheek and a zap of power touches her, not because he willed it, but because there was so much of it. Ko falls to her knees; she couldn't move, couldn't think. He's so powerful; he could have killed her, smote her down with a flick of his fingers, yet he didn't. This mere slip of power, a mere flicker of his grandeur, brought Ko to a shocked state and it was a _brush. _

"Are you going to help this wench, milord?" Jaken inquires, though his voice is disdainful – towards Ko, certainly not towards this almighty being.

Sesshoumaru doesn't answer.

Wordlessly, Ko follows him.

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><p><strong>So there you have it!<strong>

**amyrosealice: **Thanks! I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint!

**Anonymous:  
><strong>Thank you! I tried to make it feel as if you were there, hope I was successful.


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